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religious language Flashcards

1
Q

What does cognitive mean?

A

Factual claim; can be known + checked for being true or false

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2
Q

What does non cognitive mean?

A

Not meant to be known or factual
More just a metaphor/expression

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3
Q

Which scholars believed religious language is meaningless?

A

Karl Popper, Antony Flew, A.J Ayer

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4
Q

Which scholars believed religious language is meaningful?

A

John Hick, Hare, Wittgenstein, Aquinas, Pseudo-Dionysius + Maimonides, Tillich

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5
Q

What principle did A.J Ayer come up w?

A

Verification principle

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6
Q

What did the verification principle claim?

A

R.L is meaningless bc there’s no evidence to support (synthetic) + they’re not true by definition (analytic)

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7
Q

What example can we use for the verification principle?

A

The statement ‘my car is parked outside’ can be checked by going out + seeing to verify the statement

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8
Q

What does A.J Ayer say in his book?

A

Theism + atheism are nonsense bc neither can be proved on the basis of evidence
God is metaphysical so isn’t discoverable or describable

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9
Q

When did Ayer believe a statement is only meaningful?

A

Analytic (true by def.) OR
Synthetic (empirically verifiable)

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10
Q

What is the Verification principle not about?

A

Whether a statement is true or false: but whether its meaningful

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11
Q

Who gives the parable of the gardener?

A

Flew

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12
Q

What is verification in practice? Give an example

A

When there’s direct sense experience to support a statement
‘Theres a dragon next door’ = meaningful
Bc it can be checked by looking next door

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13
Q

What’s verification in principle? Give an example

A

When we know how a statement can be tested empirically
‘There’s intelligence life elsewhere’ = meaningful
Bc we know what we need to do to test it

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14
Q

What did Ayer say about meaningfulness when applied to statements about God?

A

‘God exists’/’God loves’ etc is meaningless bc it can’t be verified in principle or practice: theres no evidence + theres no way to know how to test

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15
Q

What are 3 strengths of A.J Ayer’s verification principle?

A
  • Straightforward
  • Aligns w science
  • Encourages clear use of language; some religious claims are obscure
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16
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of A.J Ayer’s verification principle?

A
  • Straightforward doesn’t make it right - many are convinced that human responses to the world (philosophy + ethics) are important
  • Makes the assumption that science tells us everything important in the world
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17
Q

What are 2 OTHER weaknesses of A.J. Ayer’s verification principle?

A
  • Some statements about religion aren’t any more irrational than any other scientific assumptions
  • V.P. principle itself is meaningless bc it’s not empirically verifiable
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18
Q

Which scholar’s (2) go w falsification principle?

A

Karl Popper + Antony Flew

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19
Q

What did Popper argue?

A

Science works primarily through falsification than verification
A good scientist tries to falsify their data

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20
Q

When did Popper say we can show smth as meaningful?

A

When it can be falsified

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21
Q

Why would statements about God be meaningless acc to Popper?

A

Bc they’re not falsifiable

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22
Q

What parable does Flew give?

A

Parable of the gardener

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23
Q

What does the parable of the gardener prove?

A

That anytime you try to disprove God’s existence, a theist will always have a response

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24
Q

What does Flew’s parable mean in terms of falsification?

A

You can’t falsify statements about God bc a theist wouldn’t let you; so they’re meaningless

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25
Q

Who does Flew draw upon in the falsification principle?

A

Karl Popper

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26
Q

What is a strength of the falsification principle?

A

Flew shows the approach of some religious believers to beliefs - they refuse to take challenges to beliefs + just find excuses

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27
Q

What is a weakness of Flew’s falsification principle?

A

The prob of evil makes many theists question/lose their faith

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28
Q

Which scholar goes w the Eschatological verification principle?

A

John Hick

29
Q

What was Hick’s main point in his theory? Who was this in response to?

A

Response to A.J Ayer
We will be able to verify God’s existence - just after death

30
Q

What does Hick’s eschatological verification mean?

A

Claims about God won’t be verified now, but eschatologically (at the end of time)

31
Q

What parable does Hick give?

A

Parable of the celestial city

32
Q

What is the point of the parable of the celestial city?

A

We’ll all reach the same place; but the journey is the important bit

33
Q

What are 3 strengths of Hick’s eschatological verification?

A
  • Claims that heaven is a real possibility - appeals to theists
  • Support of the view that religious claims are cognitive
  • Whenever we describe an experience, we’re interpreting it
34
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of Hick’s eschatological verification?

A
  • Doesn’t mean its true - atheists would dismiss it
  • It’s a statement that’ll be verified IF true but can’t be falsified
35
Q

Which scholar goes w Religious language as an expression of a blik?

A

Hare

36
Q

What parable does Hare give?

A

Parable of the lunatic

37
Q

What does Hare’s parable of the lunatic tell us?

A

Nothing can disprove what the lunatic believes; this is a blik

38
Q

What are bliks?

A

A view of the world that we may derive from those around us (like a superstition)

39
Q

What is a religious blik?

A

A common + powerful view that is often difficult to disprove to theists

40
Q

What was the difference in what Flew and Hare believed about religious statements?

A

FLEW - religious statement are assertions about the world + are intended to be cognitive
HARE - religious statements are bliks which are non cognitive but are an interpretation

41
Q

What was the difference is what Hare + Flew believed about religious believers?

A

FLEW - religious believers allow nothing to count against their cog belief so religious statements are non-falsifiable + meaningless
HARE - religious blik are non-falsifiable BUT theyre meaningful

42
Q

What was the quote from Flew about qualifications?

A

Religious statements die the death of a thousand qualifications

43
Q

What’s a strength of Hare’s argument?

A

Explains why there are diff factual claims in different religions

44
Q

What’s a weakness of Hare’s argument?

A

Makes religion subjective bc it depends on how you see smth

45
Q

What did Wittgenstein propose?

A

Language games

46
Q

What did Wittgenstein say about language?

A

Meaning is usage
Words gain meaning based on how they’re used - context is important

47
Q

What are language games?

A

Language creates diff meaning in diff situations

48
Q

What Wittgenstein say about the word ‘God’?

A

Its not an object
Its a word used in religious context

49
Q

What are 2 strengths of Wittgenstein’s language games?

A
  • Allows a range of meaning for language
  • Allows religious statements to be ‘belief in’
50
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of language games?

A
  • It’s impossible to enter into debate w someone coming from another lang game (atheism)
  • Most religious believers think their statements are cognitive
51
Q

What did Aquinas propose?

A

Religious language as analogical

52
Q

What does Aquinas reject?

A

Univocal (the same thing each time) and equivocal (means diff things in diff situations) language

53
Q

What’s Aquinas’ analogy of attribution?

A

Its possible to say smth about God
We can say God is good, wise etc

54
Q

What’s the example of the bull for Aquinas’ analogy of attribution?

A

Bull is healthy; bulls urine is healthy
If the bull isn’t healthy, the urine won’t be healthy

55
Q

What is the example of Vanessa for Aquinas’ analogy of attribution?

A

God is good; Vanessa is good
God created Vanessa (like how the bull created the urine) so God is causally responsible for Vanessa’s goodness

56
Q

What’s Aquinas’ analogy of proportionality?

A

Humans have the power to do things + God has the power to do things, but God’s power is proportionality greater than humans power

57
Q

What is Aquinas basically saying about religious language?

A

It’s still meaningful if you say smth but don’t have to explain it

58
Q

What are 3 strengths of Aquinas’ analogical language?

A
  • Gets rid of the prob of anthropomorphising God
  • Analogy helps explain God
  • Analogies are based on human experience + is cognitive
59
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of Aquinas’ analogical language?

A
  • God is unknowable so what we say is limited
  • Same approach could be used to argue negative aspects of God ‘God is evil’
60
Q

Who are the scholars for via negativa?

A

Pseudo-Dionysius + Maimondes

61
Q

What did Pseudo-Dionysius develop Via negativa for?

A

Emphasise God’s transcendence + separates him from any literal description that limits him

62
Q

What is Via negativa?

A

God is somehow known, yet remains unknowable
We know God but he remains beyond knowledge

63
Q

What does via negativa say we can’t do?

A

We can’t talk about God w out lang wo demising him

64
Q

What does Maimonides say about God?

A

Saying God is powerful means he is being compared to humans power; reducing him to smth measurable

65
Q

What are 3 strengths about via negativa?

A
  • Avoid making God a ‘thing’
  • Avoids anthropomorphism
66
Q

What are 3 weaknesses of via negativa?

A
  • Leaves humanity w the inability to understand/say anything about God
  • How can we worship a God we know nothing about?
  • Via negativa goes against Bible
67
Q

Which scholar goes w religious language as symbolic?

A

Tillich

68
Q

What does Tillich say about symbols + God?

A

Symbols are associated w things like how God is associated w things (like king)

69
Q

What does Tillich say symbols contain? Give example

A

Contain in itself what it reps (e.g. American flag contains pride + dignity)

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